Nature Portfolio

Nature Poem: 

New Found Lands

The time came                                                                                                    1

For the migrant birds to fly to a new land.

All by choice, not by command.                                                                          3

Their journey began

With their wings spread wide, and their minds naive.

No thought that this land could ever deceive.                                                       6

As their flight dragged on,

Their dreams of a better life continued to grow.

But the hardships to come, they did not know.                                                     9

They approached their new home

And were quickly surprised.

The things they were seeing were unclear to their eyes.                                       12

New chirps they heard.

Feathers of colors unknown.

Was this really a place they could call their new home?                                       15

A new fallen snow

Covered the grass on the ground.

They no longer felt they were safe and sound.                                                    18

As they continued to fly,

They realized their dreams became unreal.

They were left with nothing but sorrow to feel.                                                   21

The food they had gathered

Quickly ran out, as the small ones continued to grow.

How could something esteemed so high, really turn out so low?                         24

Their home was destroyed

In a harsh winter storm. The flock seemed to grow weak.

Their unhappy feelings would soon reach their peak.                                         27

But they continued to soar

Through the judgmental skies northbound.

Not a single problem to could ever bring them down                                        30

The Most Beautiful:

It was a typical mid-November morning. My car ride to the orange line station was no different than usual. I rode in the car, while I constantly checked the time on my phone to make sure I wouldn’t miss my train. The skies were black, and the air was chilly. I arrived at the train station, and grumpily stood on the platform waiting for my train as I do on a day to day basis. Once I was finally on the train, I took the seat closest to me, and put my headphones in my ear. Nothing was out of the usual. Half of the people riding the train were sleeping, while the rest were nosed in to their books and newspapers, or listening to music.

The atmosphere was nothing special; not at the beginning at least. I took the train for 5 stops, and happened to wake up from my nap at the Roosevelt station. I opened my eyes, looked up, and before I could I could go back to my nap, I took a double take out the window. I stopped for a second. I needed to think. Was I dreaming this? Was this just a scene of my crazy and active imagination? I continued to stare out the window of the train car in awe. A few moments later, I realized that others became aware of the view as well. People seemed to have my same reaction. Many people looked confused, while others just smiled to themselves. The girl sitting in front of me even took out her phone, turned around, and snapped a photo of the wondrous scene outside.

What I was seeing was something unexpected, and beautiful. It was cold outside, and was even gloomy earlier that morning when I left my house. This wasn’t supposed to be happening, right? The skies outside were filled with rays of color of orange, red, pink, and blue. Not a spot was seen that looked like a sky out of an approaching winter day. The sun was rising, and there was streams of clouds spread across the vast, enormous sky. It was breathtaking. Not even on a summer day had I seen a sky so magnificent, so vivid, and so beautiful.

WORD COUNT: 373

Weather Experience:

            The snow seemed to glisten in the bright glow of the daylight. The air gave off a simple smell. No one would have ever guessed that just hours before, the city ran hectically, dealing with what seemed like the most outrageous snow storm since ’99. I laughed at the thought. It seemed like so long ago I was sitting on that bus crowded to the brim. In reality, that happened yesterday: February 1^st, 2011.

            My mom called me that morning to warn me that I should really consider getting home early that evening. Blizzard in Chicago? No way. I continued my day not even fully processing the possibility of such a large scale natural occurrence. I even began to make plans for after school; Billy Goats possibly. How much harm can a little snow do to you anyways? I mean, we lived in Chicago. The city is notorious for unexpected weather, and I wasn’t about to let a few crazy weather predictions stop me from going on with my day as I usually would. Boy, did I have things set out for me.

            The clocks around the school read noon, and the windows let me watch the play of the snowfall from the VIP section. It was nothing too unusual for a normal winter day. My classes dragged along, and I still didn’t bother to worry too much about anything. I sat in 8^th period Biology figuring out who I was going to ride the train home with that day. Things seemed all too normal, until the loud speakers went off around the school. “All after school activities will be cancelled. We want everyone to safely get home as quickly as possible after their last class,” announced Dr. Kenner seriously. Maybe this wasn’t a joke after all. After 8^th period ended, my mom called me again, demanding that I get home immediately after school. That’s when things started to hit me.

The snow outside looked ridiculous, and the weather didn’t fail to disappoint either. I stepped out of the glass, school doors to feel the freezing feeling of the below zero weather. My total judgment of this storm was way off, and I was in for a long ride home. I decided to take the bus, which on a typical day, takes about 30 minutes, as opposed to the blue line which has me on for an hour long train ride. Once again, my judgment was misleading, and my wait for the bus had me standing in the snow for a good hour or so. When the bus finally reached my stop, I stepped on, and shakily put my card into the paying machine. My hands began to melt away, my glasses fogged up, and I felt my hair frizzing up with the warm air of the bus hitting me. I took a seat in the back, and put in my headphones as I normally would. I took a glance in the screen of my phone, and scoffed at my reflection. My hair was dripping melted snow down the sides of my face, and my glasses had dried specks of water on the front.

I was trying to be as patient as possible, but the wait for the bus already had me in a bad enough mood. As I sat there trying to relax, I kept checking the time, noticing that 15 minutes would pass, and we’d barely move an inch. By the time I reached the train station where I got off, the clock said that it was 5:30. Had it seriously been three hours since I left school? I sat down on a bench to wait for my train, and remembered that I needed to call my mom to let her know where I was. I took my phone out of my pocket, and noticed that I had 4 new text messages. Excitingly, all of them were about how the next day had officially been declared a snow day. Maybe that day hadn’t been the worst day of my life after all.

When I finally got home, I was able to tell my entire family about my adventure home from school, and about the snow day. Although that day brought me a lot of trouble, frustration, and plain old coldness, it’s safe to say that it was an experience to never forget. 


                                     Reading Responses: 
                  
                   Response to “Nature” by Ralph Waldo Emerson

I thought Emerson’s essay was interesting, but I don’t really agree with some of his ideas. The excerpt explained Emerson’s beliefs that humans control nature, and have the sole power to experience its beauty, as he states with the line, “The power to produce this delight does not reside in nature, but in man, or in a harmony of both,” on page 392. Although it’s agreeable that all humans have different views on nature, I think more power comes from nature itself. I’d say that nature has a stronger effect on humans, than humans do on nature. By this, I mean that nature and the environment usually have the power to alter ones emotions easily. For example, rain usually makes a person feel gloomy, while sunshine can uplift a person’s mood. Then again, these types of opinions may also depend on how one feels about nature in the first place. It’s safe to say that Emerson is an avid follower of nature, and it’s shown through his descriptions of nature throughout his essay. For example, on page 390 Emerson writes, “Air is a cordial of incredible virtue…I have enjoyed a perfect exhilaration.” His connection with nature seems stronger than with most, which probably lead to his transcendental belief system. I on the other hand, don’t collide with nature as much, and don’t feel that I can view nature differently than what it offers me initially.

WORD COUNT:  235

                      Response to “Walden” by Henry David Thoreau

  Thoreau’s essay, for me, had to be one of the most interesting things we’ve read so far this year. You may be asking why, and the answer is because the excerpt provides the reader with something applicable to their own life. Thoreau decided to leave everyday society to go live out in the wilderness. His reasons seemed fair. Life, with its day to day luxuries and shortcuts, isn’t really life at all. I think that everybody has gotten so used to technology, and life being made so simple, that we forgot that all these things aren’t really necessary. As Thoreau wrote on page 411, “Men think that it’s essential that the Nation have commerce, and export ice, and talk through a telegraph, and ride thirty miles an hour, whether they do or not; but whether we should live like baboons or like men, is a little uncertain.” This quote had me thinking for a while. Yes, of course, we’ve made our lives easier with technological innovations, but would we really be able to survive without these luxuries? Thoreau uses railroads as an example on page 411. If you really thought about it, we could find a way to get places without railroads, even though it may offer a bit more of a struggle. On the other hand, are we fit to fight that struggle? The movie, “Into the Wild,” offered the same theories. Obviously, all we really need to survive can be found in nature, and we could just live life in simplicity. But it all goes back to whether we’re willing, or even able, to make such sacrifices.

WORD COUNT: 269

          Response to “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” by Langston Hughes

I think that “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” is a very powerful poem because it found a historical way to describe African American culture and heritage. The repetition in the poem includes the line, “I’ve known rivers.” On a literal level, the poem discusses different rivers in the African region, as well as rivers in the South of the Unites States. When you put the pieces of the puzzle together, the rivers are used by Hughes to create a recollection of African American history throughout the slavery ages. I think in lines 10 to 11 of the poem reading, “I’ve known rivers: ancient, dusky rivers,” the author is trying to emphasize how far back history dates, and how simple pieces of the environment can have a more symbolic meaning than what we initially think of. It brings history back into our minds. The Euphrates, the Congo, and the Nile were not just rivers surrounding Africa, but were historical rivers in the fact that they were used to transport slaves during the slave trading era. The poem ends with the line, “My soul has grown deep like the rivers.” I think the analogy is saying that such experiences throughout history will remain in a person’s culture, whether it is part of their everyday life, or not. History will always come back to you.

WORD COUNT: 222

Response to “The Grass” by Carl Sandburg

Although this poem was really short, I think it was able to say a lot in just those few lines. I really enjoyed the idea of the poem, and the message it was trying to give to the reader. So many terrible things have happened throughout history, and we all manage to forget about them. It seems as though we only really consider the disgusting actions that our ancestors have taken for those few days when these topics are discussed in our history classes. Even then, we aren’t able to fully experience what happened. In the lines 7 through 9, Sandberg wrote, “Two years, ten years, and passengers ask the conductor: What place is this? Where are we now?” The grass is used as something to almost cover up the past. The repetition throughout the poem is “I am grass, let me work. I am grass, I cover all.” Unfortunately, I think that as years pass by, these serious events in history begin to fade from our minds, and even begin to become unimportant. The grass is said to cover up the world’s mistakes from the past, as showed in the first line of the poem that says, “Pile the bodies high at Austerlitz and Waterloo. Shovel them under and let me work.” Not only are events being forgotten, but there are so many casualties that have occurred that aren’t even acknowledged because of the fading memories of history.  

WORD COUNT: 239

                             

                 Response to “Thanatopsis” by William Cullen Bryant 
  
Alright, this poem was really hard to understand at first, but the message I got out of it in the end was pretty amazing. The entire poem is about death. Yes, death. Out of all the works we’ve read throughout this nature unit, I think this one is one of my favorites. (Despite the fact that it was crazy difficult.) I completely agree with Bryant’s ideas on death. He made death seem like isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but possibly an honorable event. Some people may think that death is one of the scariest things out there, but if you think of it in the mindset of Bryant, you come to realize that death is a part of life, and can’t be as bad as you may think. Thanatopsis stresses the idea that you are leaving the world and becoming one with nature, as shown in lines 26 through 29 that say, “Thine individual being, shalt thou go to mix forever with the elements, to be a brother of the insensible rock and to the sluggish clod.” If you think of nature in a magnificent sense, you’d feel happy to become unified with it, wouldn’t you? You’d be leaving your present life to mix with the life that is nature. Bryant emphasizes that being lonely shouldn’t be a fear of death either, because you are leaving to join honorable figures that have also died as shown in lines 34 through 37 with, “Thou shalt lie down with patriarchs of the infant world- with kings, the powerful of the Earth-the wise, the good.” I’m sure everybody has their own “Thanatopsis” but I think Bryant’s thoughts are fairly relatable.

WORD COUNT: 277 

Atlantic Essay Reaction/Response:

Nature is something that should be experienced and enjoyed to the fullest. It provides us with life’s basic necessities, and is our own personal therapist with its ability to alter anybody’s mood. But what happens when there are restrictions put on nature? What happens when society decides to limit the amount of nature available to you? You then can no longer experience its wondrous beauty, and unique scents. Robert Frost’s “The Sound of Trees,” Henry David Thoreau’s “Walking,” and “The American Forests,” by John Muir show us first hand these things happening. From the moment I watched “Into the Wild,” I began to think about how ironic it was that there’s limits put on nature and how not everyone is able to experience. In Thoreau’s essay, “Walking,” he states, “It requires a direct dispensation from Heaven to become a walker. You must be born into the family of the Walkers.” I guess this means that you must be born rich, and able to own and purchase land in order to be able to walk on it. This is ironic in the sense that what was naturally put on Earth is privately owned sometimes. To add on to this, nature is taken for granted sometimes as well. In “The American Forests,” by John Muir, he states, “Clearing has surely now gone far enough; soon timber will be scarce, and not a grove will be left to rest in or pray in.” His initial description of forests is admirable, but the fact that big corporations think it’s alright to cut down trees is going against nature. Not only is land being bought, and sold, and owned as if some materialistic thing, it’s being mistreated, despite the fact that its life’s basic structure to survive. In Robert Frost’s poem, “The Sound of Trees” he wrote, “I wonder about the trees. Why do we wish to bear forever the noise of these more than another noise so close to our dwelling place? We suffer them by the day till we lose all measure of pace.” I feel like this goes back to the idea of taking advantage of nature. We want it so much, yet we take advantage of it day by day. All the readings go back to the bigger idea of how nature should be treated in our lives, and what it provides for us. My personal opinion is that nature should be open for everyone to experience. It doesn’t make sense to me how people can just own land, and that chunk of nature is now off limits to everyone else. I mean, they didn’t create the environment. Also, if people are so land thirsty, then why do people insist on destroying it sometimes? You can’t put a price on nature, or call it your property.

WORD COUNT: 465

Creation Story:

 

A Dry Punishment

      8 million years ago in the wondrous sea world of Mongolia, a powerful and highly idolized earth dweller became the ruler of the land. They called him king. He was something between half elephant, and half human. As admirable as he was, he was worshiped all around by the other creatures of the aquatic wonderland. He held supreme power over his peasant critters, and even held the word of reason within any conflict.

   One day, a sea horse came to the sea king complaining about how he believed he worked extremely hard, and he believed he deserved more space to himself. He asked the sea king to grant him more water to use for himself, and relax. The ruler of the sea world considered this request, but decided to leave all his creatures with a fair and equal amount of land. The sea horse became outraged, and decided to ask the sea king again. When the sea horse came to the king again, he was even more upset to be rejected yet again. When he walked out of the sea king’s abode, he began to throw a tantrum. “I want more land! I am more worthy of this than anybody else!” he yelled. His fellow sea mates heard his cries, and became infuriated with knowing that their so called friend believed he was better than all of them. They too began to throw fits and frenzies.

   When the king heard this, he stormed out his door, and demanded everybody calm down. When the frenzy continued, he began to think of a quick remedy to stop the fighting. He decided the only way out of this would be to get rid of the source of the problem: the water. He slowly began to suck up all the water through his nose. He continued until every last ounce of water was gone. The land was left dusty and dry. With the new environment, all of the creatures were forced to evolve into animals that could survive in this new land. The sea horse emerged into a beautiful zebra. 

 When the land was finally back to normal, and the fighting had come to a halt, the land continued to flourish, but instead of a magnificent land of a million oceans, the animals lived in harmony in the new, and much needed Gobi Desert.

WORD COUNT: 393

This Land Is Your Land

As I was walkin', the streets grew longer,
The trees around me, reflected Autumn
And the families feasted,  as I kept repeatin',
This land was made for you and me

As I kept strollin', I reached the water
With the sun's reflection, from a midday Summer,
As the fireworks blasted, we all kept singin',
This land was made for you and me

Classmate I Am Thankful For

Thanksgiving is the perfect time to express your appreciation and thankfulness for certain individuals and aspects of your life. Things that aren't said on a day to day basis can be expressed on Thanksgiving Day. I am thankful for my classmate and friend, Andreas Komissopoulos. I am thankful for him always being there to reiterate things misunderstood by Mr. Locks, and to bring some sense of unity to our back corner group of four. Walking into a class at 8 in the morning after a horrible, hour long train ride can make you one of the most irritated people in the world. I am thankful for Andreas who can always find a way to make me laugh, and bring humor to any situation. Regardless of the constant, “Hey D.Cal, let me get a pen,” Andreas has become a great friend, inside and outside of the classroom. I am thankful for someone who I can see in the hallway, and not have just an awkward stare with, but a greeting.  Thanksgiving is the day to share your appreciations for friends and family alike. Happy Thanksgiving!

WORD COUNT:184

Community Stories

Wagner Matinee

  In the beginning of the story, the narrators uncle sends him a letter telling him that his Aunt Georgiana will be visiting Boston from Nebraska because of some real estate that she inherited from a family member of hers that passed away. The story has a lot of moments of comparison with Boston, and especially the music and symphonies from there, with Nebraska, and the everyday life of Aunt Georgiana. Her life seems almost colorless and bland when described in the story. Aunt's appearance has a negative connotation because the author made it seem like she was growing very old and worn out. On page 672, the narrator describes his aunt like, "One of those charred smoked bodies that firemen lift from the debris of a burned building." Aunt Georgiana seemed really touched by visiting Boston. What moved her the most was when she went to the concert with her nephew, and she began crying by how powerful the music felt to her. I think the music reminded her of the different things in life as opposed to just the everyday farm life she lives back at home.


An Account of Experience with Discrimination:

 I think the "old slave holding spirit" was basically the idea that even though slavery may have been abolished after civil rights activists such as Sojourner Truth fought for equality, there was still peoples personal opinion about how things should work. Although it wasn't technically legal for slavery, there may have been people who believed in racist antics anyways. This may have segregated communities unintentionally because of similar moral beliefs within people. The fact this reading was a primary document makes it all the more interesting, I believe, because it shows the exact view point of the author. In this case, we read first hand how although Truth faced some pretty hard times with discrimination, she kept on fighting for what she believed in.

Here is New York: 


White begins by describing New York as what it isn't because the main idea of the whole passage is that although New York has some flaws, its still in amazing place in some peoples eyes. Some flaws include traffic congestion, noisy and sleepless nights, public transportation. But the author makes it known that the residents learn to deal with it. Things like this are what make New York a unique place to live or visit. White describes New York as being a city within a city because you are able to find common places on every block, such as barer shops or grocery stores. This sort of reminds me of Chicago because if you go downtown, you can find places like Starbucks, or small convenient stores on basically every corner. I guess bigger cities have a different feeling to them, whereas smaller communities are more reserved and schedule based.


Song:

"Homecoming" by Kanye West ft. Chris Martin

Yeah
And you say chi city chi city chi city

I'm coming home again
Do you think about me now and then
Do you think about me now and then
Cause I'm coming home again
Coming home again

I met this girl when I was three years old
And what I love most she had so much soul
She said Excuse me little homie I know you don't know me
But my name is Windy and I like to blow trees and
From that point I never blow her off
------ come from out of town I like to show her off
They like to act tough she like to toe em off
And make em straighten up their hat cuz she know they soft
And when I grew up she showed me how to go downtown
And in the nighttime her face lit up so astounding
I told her in my heart is where she'll always be
She never mess with entertainers cuz they always leave
She said it felt like they walked and drove on me
Knew I was gang affiliated got on tv and told on me
I guess that's why last winter she got so cold on me
She said, 'Ye, keep makin keep makin that platinum and gold for me

I'm coming home again
Do you think about me now and then
Do you think about me now and then
Cause I'm coming home again
Coming home again
Do you think about me now and then
Do you think about me now and then
Oh
Now I'm coming home again
Maybe we can start again

But if you really cared for her
Then you wouldn't of never
Hit the airport to follow your dreams
Sometimes I still talk to her
But when I talk to her, it always seems like she talkin about me
She said you left your kids, and they just like you
They wanna rap and make soul beats just like you
But they just not you and I just got through
Talkin bout what ------ tryin to do just not new
Now everybody got the game figured out all wrong
I guess you never know what you got till it's gone
I guess that's why I'm here and I can't come back home
And guess when I heard that when I was back home
Every interview I'm representing you making you proud
Reach for the stars so if you fall you land on a cloud
Jumpin in da crowd spark your lighters wave em around
If you don't know by now I'm talkin bout Chi-town

I'm coming home again
Do you think about me now and then
Do you think about me now and then
Cause I'm coming home again
Coming home again
Baby do you remember when
Fireworks at Lake Michigan
Oh
Now I'm coming home again
Coming home again
Baby do you remember when
Fireworks at Lake Michigan
Oh
Now I'm coming home again
Maybe we can start again

Loy oy oy oh
Loy oy oy oh
Comin home again

Loy oy oy oh
Loy oy oy oh
Comin home again

Maybe we can start again

Response: 

The entire song is about Chicago, and how Kanye West grew up there. He refers to Chicago as a girl throughout the song, and describes different aspects of the city. For example, he talks about Downtown, and the weather at some point. Kanye basically describes how he left Chicago to pursue his career, but he still comes back to visit sometimes. He raps about how Chicago made him who he is today, and how he is so proud to be from Chicago. He represents where he's from still now that hes famous. He sort of personifies the city, and makes it seem like "she's" disappointed that as soon as people get famous, they leave, and tend to just forget about where they came from. Kanye uses negative and positive aspects from the city, and embraces them both in a proud sense.

Outline

Thesis: As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. opened up doors for minorities to settle in the Gage and Marquette Park neighborhoods, the population drastically changed as African Americans, and Hispanic immigrants moved in to the neighborhood.

I. Irish and Polish immigrants began to settle in Gage Park in the mid 1950s.

• Irish and Polish immigrants
• Businesses and Churches were built
• CTA

II. Real estate agencies had restrictive covenants, and regulated laws that discouraged minorities to move into Gage Park.

• Real estate agencies
• Open housing
• quotas
• restrictive covenants

III. Civil Rights Movement in Chicago

• Public Open Housing marches
• MLK rally in Gage and Marquette Parks
• Restrictive Covenants decline

IV.  Demographic Change

• Roman Catholics remain
• neighborhood remained middle/working class
• Minorities, specifically Hispanics begin moving into the neighborhood.

Introduction

Everyone wants to live the "American dream." For this same reason, Polish and Bohemian immigrants migrated to the United States in search of wealth and happiness. Once settlers in neighborhoods such as Gage Park began to build businesses in the community, more people started to flow into the neighborhood. Churches were built, and public transportation was incorporated as well. By the late 1800s, the neighborhood had been well set up, and had a primarily white, Roman Catholic population. As the years progressed, the demographics of the neighborhood switched to mainly Hispanic inhabitants by the late 1900s. Since Gage Park economically strived in the mid 1900s, more diverse groups of immigrants settled in the neighborhood.

Crucible Response

 Act I Response: The beginning to The Crucible was really interesting in that it immediately began with drama, and didn't have much of a dull start to it. Abigail immediately came off as the "villain" of the play, just because she was one of the first people to be accused of witch craft. The whole Betty situation was sort of confusing though. I think it might have just been her struck scared, but was it because she knew she was going to be prosecuted for witch craft? It only seemed right that Rev. Parris be her family member, as he was also portrayed as a more unlikeable character immediately as well. 

Act II Response: I think a lot of the plot in "The Crucible" has something to do with hypocrisy. Many of the characters don't "practice what they preach." For instance, Reverend Parris is always talking about how its not possible that witchcraft goes on in his house, yet he's always preaching about Hell, and the devil. Another example would be Proctor, and he's always asking for material things, even though he claims material things and money aren't important to him. Another thing I noticed from reading the first act of The Crucible is that its shocking how people used to accuse people of things such as witchcraft just because they wanted land, or just didn't like someone else. Goody Proctor accused Abigail of witchcraft because she found out that her husband and Abigail had been seeing each other behind her back.

Act III Response:
   After reading Act III of The Crucible, I was shocked at how many people got falsely accused of witch craft. I hated how Abigail just kept lying on page 1327, when she tells Danforth that she never saw Mary Warren make the poppet, and that while she worked for the Proctors, Elizabeth used to have poppets around the house all the time. It was also sort of shocking when Proctor confessed to being a "lecher" because he knew it would blacken his name in the village. But then Elizabeth denied it when the judge asked her if it was true. Although it was sweet that she wanted to do whatever she could to protect her husband, I wonder what would have happened if she had confessed. Would all the witch craft cases be thrown out? I guess that would have ruined the whole purpose of the play though. The end to Act III was pretty intense when the girls were acting like the were under some sort of spell. I really wish the judge could've known the lies, but I guess that's where the dramatic irony comes into play.

Complete Crucible Response:

Over all, I really liked The Crucible. The only problem I had with it was that for all of the dramatic suspense portrayed throughout the entire novel, the ending was really weak. I was expecting a whole lot more drama at the ending. I was kind of hoping that the people accused of witch craft, like Abigail, would come out being found guilty and prosecuted. Even though what I had wanted to happen didn’t happen, the ending was still quite shocking though. I never expected for John Proctor to completely change his story, and go along with the fact that he supposedly worked with the Devil. For the rest of the play, I probably liked reading the first two acts of the play the best. I felt they followed through with the suspense more, meanwhile the last act ended up disappointing the reader on the last few pages. The first act did a really good job with setting the scene without boring the reader. Some parts of the play were also a bit confusing. I feel like the play could have been just as good without some of the information and characters. I felt like a lot of them were useless, except for the emphasis on the hysteria of Salem with all of the false accusations being made. I would’ve liked Betty being involved in the play more, just because her part kind of set the play’s mood on the first few pages in Act I. That possibly could’ve made the play even more dramatic.

           

  After finishing the play, the idea of McCarthyism was easier to connect with the play as a whole. Just like people were falsely being confused of witch craft, people in the U.S were being accused of being Communists. Many of these times the accusations were made because of “land lust.” That concept was even portrayed in The Crucible with the Putnam’s and how greed was brought up from accusing people just because they wanted their land.  

word count=331 words